How to embed a video into a PowerPoint presentation and package it within a SINGLE PowerPoint file

Have you ever inserted a video into a PowerPoint presentation, only to discover that you are unable to distribute your presentation as a single file? Typically, inserting a video (or videos) into a PowerPoint will require that you make sure the video(s) are always placed within the same folder as the PowerPoint file, making the distribution or sharing of your PowerPoint very complicated.

This is the case for 99% of the ‘how to insert a video into PowerPoint’ tutorials that I found on the web. However, this post will show you how you can embed a video file into a PowerPoint presentation that will be self contained within a single PowerPoint file (PPT, PPTX, PPTM, PPTS, etc), and that you can share with colleagues and distribute online without needing to share the video files separately, without having to send zipped archives, and without having to instruct people on what to do with them. This post last updated: on Jun 19th, 2012. Separate instructions are now available for PowerPoint 2003, 2007 and 2010.

Note on PowerPoint 2010 vs. earlier versions: In PowerPoint 2010, it became possible to embed a video file into your presentation fairly easily.

Instructions for PowerPoint 2003 and 2007

The Method: in a nutshell, convert your video to a flash (SWF) file, then embed the file within your PowerPoint presentation. Embedded flash objects will be saved within the PowerPoint file itself, and will play as video. The original video does not need to be placed in the same directory as the PowerPoint file. Problem solved!

For PowerPoint 2003: from ‘step 3’ onwards, the LEFT side of the tables below show the process and screenshots for PowerPoint 2003 (it is essentially the same as 2007, but the interface is obviously different).

For PowerPoint 2007: from ‘step 3’ onwards, the RIGHT side of the tables below show the process and screenshots for PowerPoint 2007.

For PowerPoint 2010: the ‘convert to flash first’ method as explained here WILL WORK on 2010 as well, but there is an easier and more straightforward way to do it on 2010 (see here).

Step 1: download and install a tool that can convert your video to flash (SWF)

(This applies to PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 both). You can convert to flash using many video conversion programs. Any of the following video converters can do it, as can many many others:

Step 2: convert your video to SWF

(This applies to PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 both). Do it whichever way you want to and go to step #3. Alternately here’s a quick step-by-step on how to convert your video to flash. First, install DVDVideoSoft’s Free Video to Flash converter (make sure to uncheck the unnecessary crapware toolbar during the install process). Run the converter, then:

Drag and drop your video onto the interface

Select SWF

Uncheck ‘create HTML template’;

Select destination folder

switch to high quality (optional) and

click ‘convert’.

See the annotated screenshot to the right.

Note: once your SWF file is generated, check out the size on disk. If it is too high and you want it to be smaller, re-convert using a lower quality setting.

USE office 2012 lol.. I just did and it embedds perfectly …imagine that lol

solipsismexpress

oops.. typo.. office 2011

http://throbs.net/ Rob

I’m not sure why you needed to do this.

Powerpoint 2010’s native tool (Insert > Video > Video from File) does this by default. On the file selection dialog, just *don’t* switch it from “Insert” to “Link to File,” and it embeds the video into the PPT.

You can convert PowerPoint presentations to video files very easily with Smart PPT Converter. It’s not complicated at all – the software basically does it all for you. Here’s a link in case you’d like to try it: http://www.ppt-to-video-converter.com

jasray

Question–iSpring and the 2010 embed is known. I also assumed audio is embedded when using 2010; however, when I made and sent a .ppt slide show to a person this summer, he said when he showed the presentation the audio stopped halfway through rather than looping until the end. When I added the audio file to the folder and resent, all was fine. What did I do wrong?

Andrew Hutton

As you did I found the forums /help of little use for this problem.
I appreciate your solution but I have just been converting away from using flash to MPEGs and MP4 formats.
Is it possible to do what you suggest with these formats?
Possibly by enabling a different movie player in Powerpoint?
Thanks in advance

http://www.emiertips.info/ Cakemier

ISpring Free is good, You’re right Cruz

Pete

I followed all the instructions, but it still seems that when my colleague opens the file the video does not play. Please help me figure this out as it is driving us crazy!

jill

I have the same issue. It is because the Playing resets to false in the properties after it plays the first time. I don’t know how to fix it, but it sure would be useful since I need this for a presentation that is sent out to teachers.

gregori

look what i found! I use http://share.kagoon.com which converts any document type to html and stores it online without ads or requirement to install anything.

its so cool! you to try yourself!

Paul

The instructions for embedding a movie using PowerPoint 2010 are wrong – this still requires the video file to be present in a folder along with the presentation. The link Rob posted to the Microsoft website is very misleading – embedding should mean that the presentation alone should be able to play the movie, but this is not the case.

I haven’t tried your swf method yet but is this reliant on having flash on the host computer – this may not always be the case.

AW

Uh, no. This doesn’t work. Separate files are still needed. The goal is to have the files within ppt so you email ONE file. The mechanism described above for 2010 and 2013 wastes everyone’s time. Is there anyone who has real knowledge out there who knows how to achieve a single ppt file that contains the video?

Name

If you are using version 2010 and this isn’t working it may be because you are working on a file origially created in an older version as mentioned in a comment below. If your file extension is .PPT you can convert it to .PPTX by opening it in 2010 then going to the File menu, then the Info tab, and then selecting the Convert option.

I am using PPT 2010. The embedded .wmv file is really chunky when it’s played. I can hyperlink to the file and it plays fine but I really want to save it in the presentation to make it easier when using it on other devices. Any suggestions. Thanks

8.Convert and play other video formats including FLV, F4V, SWF, H.264, MKV, 3GP,
RMVB, WebM, VOB, DV and more in PowerPoint Presentation

nocturnic

@AW: I had the same problem and was thinking the same thing. But it turns out that it actually works exactly as described IF you use the .pptx-format. My office (a 2010 version) use 2003-2007 format by default, probably due to compatibility reasons.
Couldn’t use the solution described for 2003 / 2007 though; probably the settings are hidden somewhere else.

solipsismexpress

USE office 2011 (MAC) lol.. I just did and it embeds perfectly …imagine that lol

hcodlerag

All Mac OS versions of PowerPoint support MP4 file. For Windows, PowerPoint 2007 and lower version only support WMV, AVI, ASF, and MPG(MPEG-1) video formats, PowerPoint 2010 and higher added the support for MP4 format if you have Apple QuickTime player installed.

Converting your file to WMV(with WMV8 codec), AVI(with some ancient codec) or MPG format, is the most reliable way to ensure that you can add it to PowerPoint slide and the video is play-able even if you send your ppt to other people or play it on other machine: http://faasoft.com/articles/mp4-in-powerpoint.html

ALinoge

Are you fuckin’ serious recommending a piece of software that wants to install the TROVI malware browser hijacker?! I ought to find out where you live and shove something so far up your ass it comes out your fuckin’ mouth, motherfucker.

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